Day-33: How we wear Masks of Anonymity as Society to not take responsibility of this Earth, some evidence from Social Psychology

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I wrote this as part of a Journal for my Social Psychology Class, check it out.  Also I realize this may read boring and academic, which it is...

Looking at the readings since the last journal, I see the following days having something in common that is very important for me, the earth and our situation. So to start I will speak about each and especially the points that are most relevant.

Group Processes I: Social Loafing & Social Facilitation

            Social loafing is when you take advantage of another person. More specifically in a study we read by Hart et. al. the participants who social loafed where in the position to do so (their team mate was motivated) and the subject was not self-motivated to complete the task, operationalized as achievement motivation defined as a tendency of an individual to work toward the achievement of personal goals or standards.

Group Processes II: Social Dilemmas

            We looked at the tragedy of the commons for this day. Currently, simply due to the nature of things, we are in a position where our actions will have devastating impact on a greater number of people than those who participated in said actions. The prisoners dilemma captures this nicely where through cooperating we ensure the “devastating” impact the no harm will come to the overall group (group can be as big as humanity or small as household). Defection ensures the devastating impact of harm to the overall group, as throughout time more and more defection occurs, accumulating to more and more disaster. More on this in my final discussion.

Group Processes III: De-individuation & Social Roles

            We had looked at how a social role can lead to a kind of anonymity through being as a “part of the group” not an individual. This was seen in the study on prisoners and guards, but it is a commonplace thing to observe in everyday life in many groups and role position, ‘the worker at mcdonalds,’ ‘the police man,’ the doctor,’ ‘the scientist’ etc… The other paper we looked at was on anonymity on the computer communication, which is essentially tapping into the various behaviors of online chat, and communication in public sectors, and how anonymity influences that. A very salient situation where anonymity must play a part is in a group onlooking a disaster occurring where no one steps out to do something. Because at this point everyone is anonymous since all is equally culpable and equally not doing anything. Anonymity then is an excuse of justification, in some cases to do horrible things, or to be happy and in revelry where in a situation of non-anonymity one will then start acting differently. It is like an externalization strategy to remove responsibility and culpability and so remove feelings of guilt in making “bad” acts or remove fear in “good” acts. Though I have to say it is not removed, for how can something be removed, and reappear with something as simple as a mask/outfit? Rather it is suppressed or forgotten for a moment.

Attraction & Intimacy II: Types of Relationships

So this was a topic on relationships on specifically exchange and communal relationships. This is related to a very very important point I am interested in. Communal relationships are like exchange relationships where both relationships are designed to keep the relationship alive and fair and so supportive for both. Exchange relationship is more calculating and expects everything to be physically equal, right away, which simply is not reality. So an example would be a man in a relationship who expects his partner to always wash the fridge an equal number of times. The communal relationship could be in line with this man’s expectation. The difference is what information is taken into account. All of it? Is the partner sick, or has less free time than the man? The exchange relationship is feasible in contexts where in fact all has equal responsibilities and time. This is not most people’s circumstance; only perhaps the very wealthy have this. The communal relationship is applicable to the unequal circumstances. Both relationship types demand the other fulfill their part of the bargain.

            The discussion I want to have is on this simplistic but large point of this earth, the entirety of it, and how we (humans) relate to it. There is an interesting perspective that sees the earth as a dead thing, and so simply a thing to study and dissect and use for business and profit. There is much atrocity that is occurring in every moment. This is largely uninteresting and not worth acting upon by the majority or virtually everyone. There is no plan in place, there is no specific direction, there is no leadership in this, for a solution. So this week has provided useful information in understanding where we are now. Currently, to me it seems plain that humans hide behind anonymity for accepting the world’s problems (even though commonsense, the world’s problems are my problems because I am part of this world). However a solution seems that removing that “mask” would help people to see the commonsense point that we are of this world, and so it is part of our concern what happens to it. As I was discussing in the relationships that both persons expect the other to play their part. So to it is with the earth. Though currently no human is giving the earth the voice it deserves in addressing ALL issues of abuse that occur on this earth, as part of everyone’s obligation to care about yet no one is answering that obligation. The evidence is in the widespread ignorance and apathy seen both online and in the real world. I admit it is a precarious situation especially when weighing the degree to which and extent we entertain ourselves and are accepting responsibilities that will only add further consequences when one sees how the abuses are connected to the way money works through what we buy. Such as ipods is one simple example. Reed College has a whole store dedicated to worker abuse, the Apple store. Is this ironic or really worrisome? Both. If you are unfamiliar with the Chinese worker abuse I suggest googling it. This one example can show how through money we social loaf off the work of these workers, the difference is that it is systematized through money. This is also can be seen as a position of prisoner’s dilemma as the worker is forced to cooperate (to survive) and we as the consumer defect and so buy into OUR reward of a cheaply made product that abuse life. 

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to participate in anonymity so I would not have to step out of my comfort to assist and support this world to be the place I always knew it could be and should have been from the getgo.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to see the world being able to change and being too afraid to stand up and share that change/vision with others and then to with others find practical solutions to make this world into what it should be, a world where all are equal in their value and all is seen as life and of worth.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to have not realize that I will need to give up that which makes me unequal to this earth and become equal to the process of become a real physical being that walk this process of humanity realizing our source of earth as ourselves and how this is who WE REALLY ARE, the earth and so physical, and where all power thus lies.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to have not realize I can live from the actual starting point of what is best for all in everything I could do, and do do, and so in this way align said doings/actions to what is best for all, which what is best for all is this earth, is this equal and one power of the earth/physical, the very substance of these body we have not full awareness of or understand in a real in depth perspective, having thus far stayed in the surface of things and not explored this actual universe that is this physical human body, let alone this earth and the rest of this existence.

I commit myself to explore this human physical body through being HERE and being HERE in every breath as EVERY breath is HERE.  

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing the situation where workers are giving poor pay and placed in a system where pay is not guaranteed and thus i forgive myself for accepting and allowing a system that creates an at-most-fear of survival in order to become slaves to whoever holds money, and so essentially each of us as born a slave to the system as the system as been here throughout our lives.  

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to as a child understand that humans do not act according to what is best for all, and so i forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to not investigate a real solution and had thus spent time seeking a way out through meditation and New age spirituality.